Additional Crops for Coios and Sheep. 145 



when sown in July on land that has been fallowed, providing 

 excellent food for sheep in the early autumn. Owing to the 

 great bulk of food rapidly grown, it is well suited for sowing 

 when the outlook indicates a shortness of sheep food before 

 other root crops will be available. 



"We have said that the area under vetches or tares has fallen 

 much, and this is in accordance with what might be expected 

 when so much extra land has gone to the grass. But bej'ond what 

 is necessary for the supply of the stock in normal seasons, there 

 is the question of insurance in case of drought. The value of 

 tares during the drought last summer was simply inestimable, 

 and that is the experience in all summers when drought sets in 

 early. Although the 110,000 acres grown probably meet actual 

 requirements in ordinary seasons, it is a mistake to be niggardly 

 in their growth. They are one of the crops which are good as 

 insurance against the worst effects of drought ; whilst in years 

 of plenty they always give a value that well covers the cost of 

 production. They are a good food alike to cows and sheep. 

 They may be soiled to the former and folded over by the latter, 

 making a good change food. Personally I regard cabbages and 

 tares as the two great reserves against summer and early autumn 

 drought, and it is in every way consistent with good farming to 

 grow them freely. Both are but little affected by drought, as 

 they get well rooted before the hot weather ; each gives food of 

 high feeding value as well as of considerable bulk ; each 

 enriches the land where fed back on to it ; tares in particular 

 through their roots bring nitrogenous matter to the soil. Both 

 can be fed not merely when matured, as is the case with swedes, 

 but whenever there is bulk, and both are liked by all animals. 

 The cost of cultivation of tares is less than that of any other 

 crop giving a substantial return, with the possible exception of 

 crimson clover, and by varying the period of sowing, they can 

 be grown so as to be available throughout the summer. If not 

 greatly needed in a " growthy " summer, they set free grass and 

 other crops and yet will leave the land clear to be bastard 

 fallowed before it is required for wheat. To cow-keepers tares 

 have a special value, as they give bulky succulent food when the 

 gi'asses are losing their milk-making qualities. 



Under the great freedom of cropping allowed now, it is quite 

 easy to arrange the cropping to admit a greatly extended area 

 under tares without throwing the Ijorse labour on the farm out 

 of balance. There can be little doubt that the extension of 

 catch cropping (though the Returns do not show this) is 

 responsible for the lessening of the area under dead fallow, and 

 for the extension of Ijastard fallowing to the marked advantage 

 of the farm. On much heavy land this is accomplished, though 

 there are districts where the dead fallow is still a fetish. Heavy 



VOL. 72. L 



